Bee-escape board.



A. F. uone'som.

BEE ESCAPE BOARD.

APPLICATION HL ED JUNE 13, 19M.

- Patented Jan. 8,1918.

eaters rseesaw or ate sea-ere nnn-nscarn BOARD.

same Mes iaen Batented Jan. 8., 195181.

Applioation-filedil'ulie '13, 1914. Serial No. 845,035.

To all whom z'tmay concern:

Be it known that I, ARTH R F. Honeson,

of Jarvis, Ontario, Canada, have-inventeda v certain new and usefulImprovement in Bee- Escape Boards, and do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to bee escape boards which are used in bee hives.to accomplish the removal and temporary exclusion of bees from thesuper, and my object is to provide a simple and efficient device forthis purpose having advantages more particularly pointed out in thespecification that follows.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a top plan view of a beeescape board embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section illustrating the same in position for use,the lower portion of the super and the upper portion of the hive belowbeing shown;

Fig. 3 is a detail View in perspective of the quarter bee escape.

In constructing my escape board, I use a woven, or screen wire cloth 10in the form of one or more sheets, which in order to preserve the shapethereof and protect it, is attached to a light rectangular rim or frame11 having the horizontal dimensions of the hive. The mesh of the cloth,of course is too small for the passage of the bees, and to enable themto pass from the super above to the hive below, but not permitting theirre turn, I use a suitable bee escape, preferably the well known Porterbee escape, 12, which is in the form of a shallow box or pan, having inits upper side an opening 13 through which bees may pass into the panand from which through an opening in one end or one side of the beeescape, converge to light springs 14 which normally are so close together at the exit end that the bees cannot pass inward between thesame, but which by reason of the lightness of the springs are readilypressed apart as a bee walks, or

passes from the inlet opening outward between the converging springs. Asshown two of these bee escapes may be provided and for their convenientsupport I employ a cross bar 15 which extends from one side of the rim,or frame 11 to the other. My bee escape board is used precisely in thesame way that the ordinary solid or imperforate escape board i used,that is to say, it is interposed between the bottom of the super '16 andthe top of the hive 17.

My open work or reticulated escape, has many important practicaladvantages. Thus, there is'no obstacle to the free circulation of airbetween the super above and the hive below, so that the deserted combsin the super are not deprived of a desirable clegree of heat, or warmth,by reason of the absence of the bees therefrom, because the heat fromthe bees in the hive below passes through my escape board, and thematter of imparting warmth to the combs is of especial importance incool weather; and in hot Weather excessive heat, with discomfort to thebees in the hive below is avoided by the passage or circulation of airand heat from the hive below into the super. With the solid escape boardwhich has been used heretofore, the heat from the bees in the hive belowi confined therein. Besides this important advantage in the matter ofdissemination of heat, the openwork or reticu lated partition promotesor expedites the clearing or exit of the bees from the super into thehive, or brood chamber below, because it appears to be a principle ofbee life that they shall freely mingle and this mingling is promoted bythe intercommunication that is possible between bees on opposite sidesof the wire cloth through the meshes, or reticulation thereof throughoutthe horizontal extent of the hive so that those on one side of thereticulated escape board endeavor to join those on the other side and asit is possible by reason of the bee escape for the bees to pass onlyfrom the super downward into the hive, or brood chamber below, theresult is the mingling of the bees is possible only by the passage ofthe bees downward, and this is quickly accomplished because theirinstinct or desire to be together is acted upon through the wide spreadcommunication that is afforded by the large extent of the reticulations.

My bee escape board is light in weight compared with the ordinary solidwooden board, and it is inexpensive to manufacture.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. As an improvementin bee hives comprising upper and lower hive sections, a bee escapeboard adapted to be interposed be tween said sections and having itsportion lying between the sections perforated with openings, too smallfor bees to pass through the same, but permitting free air circulationand having means to permit the passage of bees from one hive section tothe other and 2. As an improvement in bee hives comrisin u) er and lowerhive sections a bee escape board comprising a frame adapted to beinterposed between the two hive sections and supporting a sheet ofscreen material having holes too small for the passage of bees butpermitting free air circulation, and an opening provided through saidsheet establishing communication between the opposite sides of the boardand of a size to permit the passage of bees, and means to permit thepassage of bees through said opening only in one direction.

3. As an improvement in bee hives com- Gopies of this patent may beobtained for prising upper and lower hivesections, a bee escape boardcomprlsing a frame adapted to be interposed between the two hivesections and supportmg a sheet of screen material having holes too smallfor thepassage of bees, but permitting free air circulatlon, a beeescape establishing communication between the opposite sides of theboard and having means to permit the passage of bees only in onedirection, and a cross bar extending between opposlte sides of saldframe and at a point intermediate the other two sides of the frame uponwhich the bee escape is located. r

In testimony that I claim the foregoing five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. G, p I

